Desk Report:
Home Affairs Advisor Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Retd.) has warned of strict action against election officials and law enforcement officers if any irregularities occur at polling stations in the upcoming 13th National Parliament elections, including ballot box snatching and fake voting.
The advisor gave this warning as the chief guest at a law and order exchange meeting organized by the Faridpur District Administration on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) at the conference room of the Faridpur District Commissioner’s office to ensure the smooth conduct of the ’13th National Parliament Election and Referendum-2026′.
Special guests who spoke at the meeting included Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor on Defense and National Integration (Advisor Rank) Lieutenant General (Retd) Abdul Hafiz ndc psc, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Gani, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (SIF) AKM Shahidur Rahman BPM, Director General of Coast Guard Rear Admiral Md. Ziaul Haque ndc psc, Director General of BGB Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui ndc psc, Additional IGP (Crime and Ops) of Bangladesh Police Khandaker Rafiqul Islam BPM, Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, DIG of Dhaka Range Rezaul Karim Mallick, and others.
The chief guest said that this year’s election will be free, impartial, fair and festive. For this, all kinds of preparations have been made. Three new features of this year’s election make it unique compared to other elections. These are- maximum number of law enforcement officers deployed, their training and maximum use of information technology. The advisor said that body worn cameras, CCTV, drones etc. are being used in this election. Moreover, the ‘Election Security App’ developed by the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC) is being used for a fair election. It will be launched when the presiding officer and Ansar members go to the polling station with election materials.
Addressing the officers and law enforcement members deployed in the election, Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (retd.) said that it should be ensured before the election whether CCTV has been installed in each polling station. Boundary walls should be constructed in those polling stations where there is no boundary wall, if necessary, a boundary wall should be made even if it is made of bamboo. The advisor said that after the voting, adequate security measures should be taken while taking the ballot boxes to the office of the Assistant Returning Officer in the upazila. He said that representatives of various candidates and sufficient law enforcement personnel should be deployed during the counting of postal ballots. Because, postal ballots can play an important role in determining the results in some constituencies. The advisor instructed the returning officers to be aware of this.
The Home Affairs Advisor said that some reserve forces of law enforcement should be kept in this election. He said that they will start performing their duties from the time of dawn, from that time onwards, it will continue until the counting and publication of the results. If the counting of votes is delayed, it may be prolonged further. Therefore, the reserve forces should be kept and arrangements should be made for their food and drink. However, under no circumstances should any money, immoral benefits or food be accepted from the candidates or their representatives.
In his speech as the special guest, the Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor on Defense and National Integration Development (Advisor Rank) Lieutenant General (Retd) Abdul Hafiz said that there is less than 48 hours left for the elections. Therefore, patrols should be increased to arrest terrorists and miscreants. He said, the map of striking should be determined in advance.
The deployment of law enforcement agencies should be in such a way that a quick response can be made in case of an incident. He also said, along with free, fair and impartial elections, a festive atmosphere should be ensured.
Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Gani said, Bangladesh’s geopolitical importance is very high. Therefore, the eyes of the outside world will be focused on the national elections of this country. Addressing the officials and law enforcement agencies engaged in the elections, he said, “You are fulfilling a historic responsibility. In that case, it should be ensured that everyone fulfills their duties correctly without any deviation.” He expressed hope that real democracy will be established in the country through the upcoming national elections.
All the Deputy Commissioners of the Greater Faridpur region, Superintendents of Police and representatives of the Armed Forces Division, BGB and various intelligence agencies of the Greater Faridpur region participated in the view-sharing meeting.
Later, in a briefing to journalists, the Home Affairs Advisor said that the election preparations in the greater Faridpur region are good. Currently, the law and order situation there is also good. Stating that there is no doubt about the election, he said that the rate of violence in this election is very low except for one or two isolated incidents. He expressed his determination to hold the election in a fair and festive atmosphere.
